MOST OF US mystery fans have our preferences. We love thrillers, or we lean to Western themes, or we like a big dollop of romance with our crime puzzles. We’re also clear on what we don’t like; for instance, I’ve never made any secret of the fact that I dislike books in which the animals are smarter than the humans or — heaven help me — actually solve the crimes. But even with our devotion to our favorites, it’s a good idea once in a while to take a peek at what else is out there. Some writers have created quite ingenious universes for us to investigate.

“A Whole New Life,” by Betsy Thornton (St. Martin’s, $23.95, 288 pages). Betsy Thornton examines the effect one death has on a number of people. The victim is Jenny Williams, a dissatisfied young woman killed in a car crash. Her husband, Jackson, a professor of English, is charged with her murder. The book has multiple points of view: Some chapters are from the jailed husband’s point of view; some from his estranged daughter, who turns up hoping to get to know her father; and others from neighbor Ruth, who takes it upon herself to see that Jackson doesn’t rot in jail. Yet other chapters are from Jackson’s lawyer, the recovering alcoholic investigator he hires, and a homeless man who is either a weirdo or a magician. It’s an interesting approach, but suffers from the fact that some of the characters are more interesting and better imagined than others. There’s a lot going on here, and worth reading just to get to know Ruth.

“The Oxford Murders,” by Guillermo Martinez. (Penguin, $13, 200 pages). A graduate student from Argentina discovers his Oxford landlady has been murdered. Two strange facts emerge: The victim was a proficient code-breaker during World War II, and the famed mathematician Arthur Seldom has received a note containing a circle, and the words “the first in a series.” The landlady’s death is not the last one, and the narrator struggles to make logical sense out of what is happening. The book has been described as “a scholarly whodunit,” and there is certainly an interesting outsider’s perspective on life in Oxford. It’s an intriguing puzzle, but for my taste, just a touch too academic. None of the characters seems real, and so it is hard to get too involved.

“The Merlot Murders,” by Ellen Crosby (Scribner, $24, 290 pages). Lucie Montgomery, crippled in an auto accident, has been living in France, when she is summoned home to Virginia, where her father, Leland, has just died. The family’s vineyard now belongs to Lucie, her brother and sister, both of whom want to sell it. Her godfather, who doesn’t think Leland’s death was an accident, then dies himself in a bizarre fashion. It is soon clear that everyone, including her brother and sister, has an agenda. There’s also the family lawyer; Lucie’s old boyfriend, now her younger sister’s lover; and the new winemaker, who lacks the graciousness of his predecessor. Everything is connected, but nothing is clear. Crosby has done a fine job creating a complex and interesting family saga against the background of winemaking. My only quibble: The ending is a little too pat, and Lucie’s ability to survive attacks is well beyond lucky, and might be called astonishing.

“A Hard Bargain,” by Jane Tesh (Poisoned Pen Press, $22.95, 308 pages). Private investigator Madeline Maclin finds a lot of people in her small North Carolina town more interested in her background as a beauty queen than in her investigative skills. Still, she turns up a little work, collecting overdue library books and searching for a lost umbrella. Besides finding work, her second goal is to persuade her best friend, Jerry Fairweather, that they can be more than friends. Jerry, who still struggles with the early death of his parents in a fire, is a bit of a con man. Meanwhile, Madeline is hired to find an eccentric inventor who apparently abandoned boxes of money. And a film company arrives to make a horror film, “Curse of the Mantis Man.” My guess is this whole concoction is supposed to be light and frothy, a screwball comedy with a murder attached. It has flashes where this works. But most of it is just overbeaten eggs. We’re told over and over that Madeline loves the schlemiel Jerry, and that she dislikes the whole beauty queen thing. But the book’s not amusing enough to make us ignore all the illogical items.

“Missing Member,” by Jo-Ann Power (St. Martin’s, $23.95, 320 pages). Since this first book in a new series is set in Congress, you might think from the title that a member of that august body has gone missing. Instead, it refers to the appendage that was cut off a prominent representative whose body is found in the office of Texas Congresswoman Carly Wagner, our erstwhile heroine. Carly, a former barrel-racing champion who is good-looking, financially comfortable and a whiz at one-liners, wants the police to look beyond herself for a suspect. She also wants to protect her 12-year-old daughter, whose best friend is the victim’s son. In her quest, she is aided by the mysterious and sexy Mr. Jones, a combination of private detective/bodyguard, the gift of an anonymous benefactor. Not surprisingly, she spends most of the book suspicious of him. It diminishes the portrait to discover that Carly, who talks about the importance of female mentors, etc., is remarkably catty about any woman who isn’t tall and slim. Still, here’s lots of good inside-the-Beltway stuff about how government works … and doesn’t work. And if you can set aside your skepticism about the Jones stuff, then it’s a funny and convoluted tale of love, power, politics and sleaze wrapped in a mystery.

It’s a Mystery appears the second Sunday of the month. Reach Roberta at ralex711@yahoo.com.

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